The present invention relates to particulate compositions for washing and bleaching and to a process for washing and bleaching using such compositions.
It is well known that peroxy compounds, such as sodium perborate, percarbonate and persulphate in the form of particles, can be incorporated in particulate washing and bleaching compositions in order to improve their bleaching power. To improve the effectiveness of a washing process and to facilitate the removal of soil, an alkali, e.g. sodium carbonate, again in particulate form, can be incorporated into these compositions. This has the additional advantage of conferring an alkaline pH to the washing or bleaching baths.
However, compositions for washing and bleaching which contain both of these two types of compounds simultaneously have a tendency to agglomerate, or cake, easily when stored in a highly humid atmosphere, thereby making such compositions very difficult to pour and thus difficult to use in automatic washing machines.